Tracker mechanism for musical instruments.



J. T. AUSTIN. v TRACKER MECHANISM FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 4, 1913. 1 1,099,907, Patented June 16,1914

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Witnesses-.- [rave-later:

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"UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE.

JOHN T. AUSTIN, 0F HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO AUSTIN ORG.AN

COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

TRACKER MECHANISM FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 16, 1914.

Application filed September 4, 1913. Serial No. 788,039.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN T. AUSTIN, a

.citizen of the United States, residingat Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tracker Mechanism for Musical-Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to tracker-mechanism for automatic musical instruments such for instance as organs and pianos, the

primary purpose of the invention being the ing description. I do not limit myself to this disclosure; I may depart therefrom in several respects within the scope of the in' vention defined by the claims following said description. I Referring to said, drawings; Figure 1 is a front elevation artly in section, of tracker mechanism invo vingvmy invention. Fig. 2 v

is a vertical sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the ed in the roll box 3 which latter may be and The tracker 2 is' shown as being made up of several sections 4 Which'are practically in the form of blocks; mounted as will hereinafter appear .for slid is of the ordinary type.

in movement in opposite directions longitu inally of the tracker and having holes 5 from which the customary ducts 6 lead. As

shown the strut, or strip '7 extends from side to side of the roll box 3, being fastened in some suitable way as by screws 8, to said sides and being equipped with guide rails 9 to enter opposite grooves or channels 10 in the sides of the sections 4 of the tracker, said sections being slidable on said rails. The perforated music sheet 11 is carried by the roll 12 and is received onto the roll 13 after the usual practice.

To effect the elongation or shortening of the tracker 2, I provide a lever and link construct-ion, there being'two of such levers 14 shown, the strip 7 being provided near opposite ends with bearings or posts 15 to which the. upper ends of the levers are pivotally connected, the power necessary to shift said levers outward being applied in the present case, to said levers at or near their lower ends as will hereinafter appear. The levers are swung inward and are normally maintained in such relation by a coiled spring as 14" connected therewith. Pivoted or otherwise suitably connected with the levers 14 and extending inwardly therefrom are links 16, said links being likewise con-- nected with tracker sections 4 and being as shown of progressively. increasing. lengths commencing with the outermost one. The shortest or lowermost link 16 is connected with the lever 14 farthest" fromits center of oscillation and is connected with the outermost tracker section, the next longer link is connected with the lever 14, a' little nearer its center of motion and is connected with the second tracker sectionand so forth otherwise the two levers 14 any desirable means may be provided, the same, however,

being preferably of pneumatic type, and although'shown as exhaust in character, this is not always essential, 'as the same results might be obtained by pressure. For the pur pose in question I have shown two pneumatics 17 of bellows form, the outer boards of whichare suitably fastened to the sides of the roll'box 3 and each having a duct 18 connected therewith and also with some suitable kind of exhaust device, not shown. The inner or movable boards of the bellows have ports 19 opening to atmosphere and conrolled by valves as 20 mounted on feelers denoted in a general way by 21. Each feeler comp-rises a body portion 22 and a finger portion 23, the valves 20 to which I have referred being connected with said body portions which are shown pivoted as at 24: at their upper ends to the movable boards of the bellows 17. The fingers to which I have referred are pivoted between their ends to the lower extremities or free ends of the body portions 22, inward motion of said .body portions 22 being limited by suitable means as thestaples 25' straddling the same and connected with the movable boards of the bellows. The feelers 21 are normally held advanced or in their outer positions by springs as 26 between the respective body portions 22 and movable boards of the bellows 17. The upper branches of the pivoted fingers 23 are normally held against pads as 27 on the body portions 22 by springs 28 which are stronger than the springs 26. At the lower ends of the pivoted fingers 23 are pivoted shoes 29 in the form of clips which receive the edge portion of the sheet from which it will be evident that in the construction shown the control of the tracker, is an edge one, although this may not always be necessary.

It will be assumed that the parts are 0ccupying the positions shown in Fig. 1, and that the player is in action. The valves 20 are shown as open or uncovering the ports or openings 19. It will be further supposed that the sheet has been expanded. When the expanded portion of the sheet engages the feelers it swings them outward, thereby carrying the valves 20 against the ports 19, so that the bellows 17 can be collapsed by suction and through the links 24 swing the levers l4 outwardly and thereby corres ondingly move the tracker sections 4 in orer to elongate the tracker and secure accurate registration between the perforations thereof and those in the music sheet. When the narrow portion of the sheet comes opposite the free ends of the two feelers21, the feelers are swung inward by the springs 26, thereby moving the valves 20 away from the ports 19 and permitting the two levers 14: to beswung inward or toward each other by the spring 14 and the consequent expansion of the two bellows owing to their described connection with said levers, thus shortening the tracker 2 to its normal length.

It will be clear that owing to the fact that the fingers 23 are yieldingly mounted, no

harm can result, or the paper be torn after the valves 20 have been closed, as in such a case as this, the lower branches of the fingers 23 will be swung outward. As the springs expansion, the fingers 23 being-provided merely to take care of excessive or unusual expansion of the sheet.

What I claim is: I

1. A. tracker comprising sections movable in opposite directions longitudinally of said tracker, an oscillatory lever, a series of links connected with the lever and also with sections of the tracker, the links being of dif ferent lengths and being connected with the lever at difierent distances from its center of a movement, and mechanism controlled by the music sheet for automatically oscillating said lever.

2. A tracker comprising sections movable inopposite directions longitudinally of the tracker, oscillatory levers mounted at opposite ends of the tracker, a series of links connected with each lever, the links being of progressively decreasing lengths commencing with the ones nearest the centers of motion of the levers, the links being connected with tracker sections, and mechanism op erable by the music sheet for automatically oscillating said levers.

3. The combination of a lengthwise extensible and contractible tracker b0ard,a pneumatic having an opening to atmosphere, a valve governing said opening, means controlled by the music sheet for opening and closing said valve, and means connected with the pneumatic, for elongating or shortening the tracker.

. 4. The combination of a lengthwise extensible and contractible tracker, a bellows, the movable board of which has an opening to atmosphere, a valve for governing said opening, means controlled by the usicsheet, for opening and closing said valve, and means board for tracker.

5. The combination of a tracker comprising sections movable in opposite directions longitudinally of the tracker, levers, bellows,

elongating or shortening the the movable boards of which are connected with the levers and which have ports opening to atmosphere, links connected with the levers and also with the sections of the tracker, the links commencing with the outermost one being of progressively increasing lengths, swinging feelers conne'ected with the-movable boards of the bellows and the free ends of which are engageable by the side edges of the music sheet, and valves for controlling said openings, carried by said feelers.

6. The combination of 'a tracker and a music sheet, pivotally mounted feelers each PIOVidBd'WIth' a pivoted finger for engaging an edge of the ing the feelers connected with said movable music sheet,springs for urgtoward the music sheet, indei extent springs acting against the feelel s I In testimony whereof I afix my signature to urge the letter also toward the musm in presence of two Witnesses. sheet the springs acting against the fingers N being of greater power than those acting JQJLTLT against the feelers, and means actuated by Witnesses: the feelers for secunng reglstmtlon between EDWIN M. WHEY,

the tracker and the music sheet. H. A. WALKER.

fiopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the fi ommissioner of Estemts,

' Washington, C. 

